Background

Robert Russell is a partner in the Litigation Group of our Toronto office. He is the practice group coordinator for the Firm's Competition and Marketing Law Group and partner responsible for Technology.

Areas of Practice

• Litigation, Competition Law and Technology Law.

Rankings and Recognitions

• Nominated in 2009 and in 2010 as BTI Client Service MVP. This nomination recognizes outstanding legal skills, extraordinary attention to client needs and noteworthy responsiveness to Fortune 1000 organizations with highly personalized strategic advice and a willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty.
• Recognized in the 2010 edition of Chambers Global – The World's Leading Lawyers (Competition/Antitrust: Litigators)
• Selected by peers for inclusion in the 2010 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada (Competition/Antitrust Law)
• Recognized in the 2009 edition of PLC Which lawyer? (Competition/Anti-trust)
• Martindale-Hubbell BV Peer Review Rating

Professional Experience

Litigation

• Senior Litigation counsel in matters involving commercial disputes, class action proceedings, shareholders' remedies, commercial torts, civil actions under the Competition Act, securities law, technology law and contracts. He has appeared in numerous trial courts across Canada and appellate courts including the Ontario Court of Appeal, British Columbia Court of Appeal, Alberta Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada.
• Engaged by multi-national clients in matters involving the coordination and strategic planning of parallel class proceedings in Canada and the United States. He acted as senior coordinating counsel in class proceedings related to the collapse of Confederation Life which resulted in multi-district proceedings in Canada and the United States.
• Recent matters in respect of which he has been retained by significant clients of the firm include:
• Loblaw Companies in respect of class proceedings by minority Class A shareholders claiming oppression, conspiracy and breach of fiduciary duty for damages exceeding $72M (2003);
• Hewlett-Packard in respect of class proceedings regarding alleged defective printers for damages exceeding $110M (2004);
• An major technology services provider in respect of alleged negligence and breach of contract relating to a major SAP implementation for damages exceeding $20M(2004);
• Weston Limited in respect of a commercial dispute regarding the divestiture of E.B. Eddy for damages exceeding $42M (2005); and
• Future Shop in respect of a class action proceeding relating to allegedly defective disk drives (2001).

Competition Law

• As a senior competition law counsel, he has acted on both civil and criminal matters under the Canadian Competition Act and has appeared before the Canadian Competition Tribunal on numerous occasions, acting on behalf of the Canadian Competition Commissioner as well as private sector clients.
• Acted for a number of private sector clients in many of the most significant and complex mergers in Canada during the past two decades including: the $4 billion acquisition of Dome Petroleum by Amoco to form Canada's largest oil producer; the $2.2 billion acquisition of Provigo by Loblaws to create Canada's largest supermarket chain; and more recently the $40 billion acquisition of Compaq by Hewlett-Packard.
• Acted as Agent of the Attorney-General of Canada and counsel to the Competition Commissioner in a number of matters includingCP Containers/Cast North America, Abitibi-Consolidated/Donohue Inc and Forzani
• Has been retained as a special advisor to the Canadian Commissioner of Competition concerning proposed amendments to the Competition Act.
• Has frequently been invited to appear before a number of Canadian Parliamentary Committees and the Canadian Senate in respect of competition law reform.
• Has appeared before the Competition Commission in the United Kingdom in respect of the merger of Air Canada and Canadian Airlines.
• Advising and representing clients with respect to criminal matters under the Competition Act, such as conspiracy, bid-rigging, misleading advertising, price maintenance.

Technology Law

• Acted in major transactions for clients such as Hewlett-Packard, NEC, Amoco Canada, Loblaw Companies, Westons, Placer Dome, British Airways, Barclays Bank, Marsh McLellan, B.C.E., Ryder, Holt Renfrew, Gainers, Bramalea Limited, Institut Mérieux, Bliss & Laughlin Industries, Carecor Health Services, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Simcoe & Erie Insurance, Gerber Foods, Amdahl Canada, Atochem North America, Scepter Manufacturing and Telecom - Telesat.
• Advising clients with respect to advertising, packaging and labelling, tariffs and trademarks; and representing clients with Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Health Protection Branch, Liquor Licence Board.

Publications and Speaking Engagements

• A frequent speaker on commercial litigation, cross-border litigation, class action proceedings and litigation management.
• A frequent speaker on competition policy and law including regular participation at the annual Canadian Bar Association, conference on competition law and has spoken at events hosted by, the ECN, University of Toronto, the Canadian High Commission in London, England and the Canadian Embassy in Paris, France.
• Presenting in-house seminars and audits for firm clients on various topics including commercial litigation, class action proceedings, technology law, advertising law, trademark law, competition and anti-trust law.

Professional and Community Activities

• Contributing Editor Corporate Litigation, Federated Press publishers.
• Member, Canadian Bar Association, American Bar Association and International Bar Association.
• Member, Ontario Superior Court of Justice Commercial List Users Committee. Past member of the Integrated Justice Steering Committee.